


A Life Loved

by schooled_fics (19921729)



Category: Schooled (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, CB Cries, CB's Nana dies, CB's family sucks, Death of a loved one, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt CB, Hurt/Comfort, Men Crying, Minor Character Death, Pre-Relationship, Supportive Lainey Lewis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24135883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/19921729/pseuds/schooled_fics
Summary: The unimaginable happens to CB: His Nana dies.Thankfully he has people to support him.
Relationships: Charlie "CB" Brown & CB's Nana, Lainey Lewis & Charlie "CB" Brown, Lainey Lewis/Charlie "CB" Brown
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	A Life Loved

**Author's Note:**

> In all my fics, I think this is the meanest I've been to CB.  
> This happened when I couldn't remember an instance where CB mentions his Nana is season 2, so I thought maybe she'd died. He does mention his Nana at some point, I think, so she's okay.

A Life Loved

CB finished drying the dishes and put them back in their rightful place in his Nana’s kitchen cupboard. He made sure to turn all the mugs so that all the cats were facing outwards. His Nana always loved to pick a different kitty every day so the mugs always had the cats facing outwards. He put the damp dishcloth and towel in the sack of laundry, so that they could be washed along with the blankets and his Nana’s dressing gown and pyjamas. He moved on to the mail on the hall stand and sorted through it, separating the important mail from the junk mail. 

Taking once last look over his Nana’s living room, he straightened some pillows and tidied the throw over the back of the couch. There was a vase of flowers on the window sill  so he took them down and placed them next to the sack of laundry and the mail. The flowers reminded him that there was potted lavender on the kitchen window sill so he went to get those too. He didn’t want them to wilt. 

That was everything for today, the next few days would be busy. With no family to help… Well, no, that wasn’t right. With no family that would care to help, the process of clearing the house might take a while. Not to mention the daunting task of arranging the funeral ahead.

CB took one last look around his Nana’s house. The house he grew up in. The house he went to whenever he needed t he comfort of his Nana. The house that had only ever represented happiness and love to CB.  Taking one last look at the house while it still showed some signs of  a  life  being lived there , any indication that it was lived in, that it was loved, CB took the laundry and the mail and the flowers, and he stepped out and locked the door.

He walked away from the house, facing a life without his Nana.  CB’s Nana  had died unexpectedly last night . His kind, loving, amazing Nana was no longer here. CB was alone.

~~~~~~~~~~

CB knew on some level that he had other people in his life that cared for him, the couch he was sitting on was evidence of that. It was second-hand and completely mismatched with the other furniture in his house, which were in turn somehow mismatched with all the other furniture in his  apartment . Still, he wouldn’t trade it for anything because it had been given to him by his school-family after his apartment burned down.

Still he sat on his second-hand couch, where he’d been for the past two days. He hadn’t showered, he hadn’t gone to bed, he’d barely eaten. He sat on his couch, crying, trying to arrange the funeral, crying, arranging for movers to move his Nana’s possessions to storage, crying, and speaking to the solicitor about his Nana’s will.  Then he cried some more. He hadn’t heard from the rest of his family yet, but it was only a matter of time until they came to claim their share of everything. He didn’t really care about all that stuff, but he wanted to see if there was anything there about her wedding and engagement rings, he would really like to keep those. He already had the skateboard she had bought when he was eight- for herself.

He was going through one of the photo albums he’d found in his Nana’s house. He’d found a box of them, some dating back to before he was born. It was probably  the one good thing that had happened to him since his Nana died. There was a picture of him and his Nana, he must have been about six, they were both covered in paint and grinning at the camera. He vaguely remembered when it had been taken, he remembered  some sort of art festival.

There was a knock on the door and he gave his face a quick wipe, there w ere usually tears on it these days, then he sniffed his t-shirt, it wasn’t great but he doubted whoever  was at the door would be coming close enough to notice. So far the only people he’d seen were pizza delivery men and  Glascott .  He’d requested the week off work  due to what had happened so Glascott knew and had got him a sympathy card signed by the faculty .  It perched on the top of his T.V, a comforting sight.

He opened the door to find Lainey on the other side. Usually he would have been embarrassed that she’d seen him in such a state, but it wasn’t like she  was been attracted to him. She’d never been attracted to him so it wouldn’t make a difference if she saw him looking like a complete wreck.  He missed his Nana,  he decided he was allowed to look like a complete wreck.

Lainey took one look at him and suddenly he was in her arms, being pulled into a comforting hug. He grasped onto her, gripping her jacket in his fist. A fresh wave of tears overcame him as he suddenly became overwhelmed with her comfort.

“You smell bad.” Lainey whispered in his ear.

“Sorry.” he mumbled, beginning to pull away from her hug.

“Don’t you dare apologise.” she answered, tugging him back and holding him closer than before. “I don’t care how you smell. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

To that, CB only buried his face in her shoulder and let himself cry into the comforting embrace of a friend.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ten minutes or so later, CB found himself back on that second-hand couch. He could hear Lainey moving around in his kitchen. Usually he would be worried about her seeing his collection of novelty mugs or the kitty mugs his Nana gave him. Now, he was just happy to hear someone else in his apartment, he’d been alone thinking about his Nana for so long. Eventually Lainey emerged from his kitchen with two mugs of tea in her hands. She placed the Star Wars one on the coffee table in front of him and sat down next to him on the couch.

“It’s Oolong, I know you like it. And I get to use this kitty mug because it’s adorable.” she said, holding up her own mug to show the picture of the tabby cat sitting in front of a blackboard with a teacher’s cap on. CB gave her a small smile, it was an adorable mug.

“My Nana got it for me.” he croaked, his voice had barely been used since he’d called Glascott for time off work. All the crying must have had an effect too.

“Yeah, she was awesome. I only met her once but she talked to me for twenty minutes about how the Rolling Stones were better than The Beatles.” she said, sipping her tea.

CB couldn’t help it, at the mention of his Nana tears welled up in his eyes. She had known about his crush on Lainey and boy, had she approved.  She always encouraged him not to give up on her, she said she saw something there. Sometimes when he had let himself daydream about an impossible future with Lainey, he’d thought about a wedding day with his Nana there, children  that called her their great-Nana. He imagined the three of them as a family, and when he’d heard how much his Nana had got on with Lainey he’d been secretly delighted. None of it had made any difference in the end.

He felt a delicate hand on his back and he realised that he’d put his head in his hands and was sobbing into them. A gentle pressure guided him to Lainey, where her arms then surrounded him.

“I’m really sorry, CB.” she said, her voice sounding shaky. He just curled into her, burying his face in her shoulder. After a while he was out of tears again, goodness only knows how many times that had happened in the past few days.

“I just… I really wish she wasn’t dead. I miss her…” he told her, his voice wavering again.

“I’d love to hear about her. I mean… only if you want.”

It took a  couple of minutes for him to get his voice back and to get his words in order. But talking about his Nana with someone he trusted seemed like the closest thing he’d get to having her back.

“She basically raised me.” he admitted, “My parents didn’t really have a lot of time for kids so they let me stay with my Nana. It was good of her to take me in, she was basically ready to retire at that time. But I was always happier when I was with her, and they didn’t really want me anyway.” he felt Lainey’s hand grasp his shoulder tighter and her body language seemed to tense. He imagined that if she wasn’t so set on comforting him, she’d be yelling, calling his parents douche-turds.

“I didn’t really fit in with the rest of my family. They’re all really clever but cold. They didn’t have much time for my daydreaming, books and fantasy novels.” he admitted, comfortable in doing so in the presence of someone he knew was on his side. “Nana liked it, though. She was so kind. She encouraged it, said that creativity should be appreciated. So, she indulged me whenever I went to visit, she said imagination was a good thing. My parents just thought I was weird.” He paused, taking a few deep breaths, “My Dad got offered a job that involved a lot of travel. He wouldn’t have been able to do it if they had to drag a kid along with them, too much switching schools. So my Nana offered to take care of me and they jumped at the chance.” he sighed, letting all of it rest heavily in the air of his apartment.

“Well, I like your Nana even more now.” Lainey answered, her voice teary.

“She was always there. When I was bullied at school, she always made me feel better. I told her everything, my first crush, my first kiss… Everything. I remember tutoring this one kid in high school and I loved it, she’s the one that suggested that I could be a teacher. She was right, I couldn’t imagine being anything else.” he admitted, “And now… Now she’s gone.” he said, a sob tearing its way through his already raw throat. “I can’t believe it. I just… I want her back, Lainey.” Lainey pulled him back towards her body, letting him bury his face back in her shoulder as he cried for his beloved Nana.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lainey stayed with him for hours, she only left when it was late and even then she seemed reluctant to leave. He really appreciated having her there, even though she didn’t love him the way he wanted her to she was one of the best friends he had and he didn’t feel quite so alone in the world  when she was with him . 

“I’ll be back after school tomorrow.” she promised.

“You don’t have to do that. You’re busy.” he assured her, not wanting to inconvenience her.

“Not too busy for you CB.” she said and pulled him into a hug. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her.

“Thanks Lainey.” he said into her shoulder.

“Anytime.” she said as they separated from the hug, “Now, go for a shower.” she teased.

“Okay.” he smiled, and once she left he went for a shower and a change of clothes, feeling much better for it.

Over the next few days, Lainey was a godsend. She helped him arrange the funeral and kept him company through it, the way she kept her hand in his the entire time was the only thing that got him through the day. She defended him from the snide judgements of his family, matching their sneers with her snark. She helped him clear out his Nana’s house, she insisted on seeing all the pictures of him when he was young and asked questions about most of the things she found. It made clearing the house take longer but it was easier, it allowed him to recount happy memories of his Nana instead of wallowing in her absence. She was his lifeboat, his guardian angel, the one person who was always in his corner.

It helped to have her there as a constant. Everything seemed to have happened so quickly, it had been a shock for CB. It was barely a week since he’d been speaking to his Nana and now she was dead, buried, her all belongings gone to those intended or donated, and CB had nothing left to do. He sat on his sofa, Lainey had gone back to hers for the night. Feeling vulnerable and alone, he dug out one of the clean blankets he’d taken from his Nana’s wardrobe and wrapped himself in it, taking comfort in its warmth and familiarity.

~~~

CB returned to work a week after his grandmother had died.  The first day was always going to be difficult. Driving his car to work felt weird, walking up the stairs to the school felt weird, making his way through the corridors felt weird, it was exactly what he’d done almost every day for years but it felt different somehow. The world felt different, everything felt like sandpaper on already raw skin, like heat on sunburnt skin. CB was vulnerable, feeling too exposed after experiencing the cruelty of  a  death  of a loved one . 

He walked to the teacher’s room, the room fell silent as he walked in. Then suddenly everyone was by his side offering him comfort, and CB just felt like crying. He felt a sudden appreciation towards his cooworkers and their obvious care for him. Wilma was rubbing his arm until Coach Mellor pushed her aside to grab him into a bear hug. Once he was released, a mug of coffee, exactly the way he liked it, was pressed into his hands by Principal Glascott. CB left the teacher’s lounge and made his way to his classroom, feeling less vulnerable than when he walked in after experiencing the support of his work-family. 

Someone had locked CB’s ties in the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet. When he opened it, the ties were laid  out neatly so they wouldn’t wrinkle, safe from any substitute teachers coming in and moving them around. CB was  putting them all back on the bust he had on his bookshelf when he heard footsteps hurrying down the hall towards his class.

“CB!” he heard and turned just in time to catch Lainey as she ran into him, gripping onto him in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. It felt good to have her familiar, comforting presence today. He didn’t want to think what today would be like if he didn’t get to see her.

“Hi, Lainey.” he said fondly into blonde hair.

“You didn’t tell me you’d be back today. If I’d known I’d have waited for you.” she said into his chest.

“Sorry. This is enough, though.” he said, giving her a squeeze, “This is good.”

Lainey gave him one last squeeze before letting him go. “How are you doing?” she asked sincerely.

CB shrugged. “You know…”  he trailed off, “Better, though.” he answered honestly. “Listen, Lainey, thank you for everything you did to help me. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you were there. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” he thanked her, looking down into her blue eyes.

“Oh, CB!” she said, reaching to take his hand, “Of course I was there. I wanted to know you were okay, I wanted to help you when you were hurting.” She squeezed his hand and he felt another rush of gratitude towards her.

“Thank you so much, Lainey.” he repeated, and she wrapped him in another quick hug. As they pulled apart, he smiled at her. “Did you have anything to do with locking up my ties?” he asked.

“I didn’t want anyone messing with them.” she answered, CB opened his mouth to thank her but she swatted his chest, “Stop thanking me.” she ordered and CB just smiled.

She took one of his ties from his desk and handed it to him, he draped it over the bust and tied a knot in it. When he was done, Lainey was holding out another for him. They carried on until all the ties were on the bust. It was soothing, a repetitive task done with a friend. It would be difficult but CB felt reassured that he’d be able to carry on with his life, even without his Nana there. And if he ever stumbled or needed help, he knew Lainey would be right next to him.


End file.
